North Carolina FC was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and its season ended on Saturday evening, falling 1-0 to the Charlotte Independence.
After going for broke late in the game, pushing everyone forward and bringing on extra forwards, NCFC was hit on the counterattack deep in added time, giving Charlotte the game’s only goal. Despite 12 shots, four of which found the target, NCFC was not able to find the back of the net across the 90.
“The first half, first of all they are a good team, they had a fair amount of possession,” said NCFC head coach Dave Sarachan. “Our team shape was good. I did not think we were good enough with the ball in the first half… The second half, we had a large percentage of the possession. They dropped off quite a bit and made it hard on us. I think we created enough chances to earn ourselves a goal, one or two goals… I can’t fault my team’s effort, initiative to try and win the game.. Their goal in the end was meaningless, in a way, because we didn’t get our goal.”
Prior to Saturday, NCFC made an improbable run, defeating Birmingham Legion FC and New York Red Bulls II, after previously losing to Charlotte on Sept. 19, to make Saturday’s game mean anything. NCFC also got some help during that run from Memphis 901 FC who beat Charlotte, despite the recent run of form, NCFC was not able to complete its comeback run to the playoffs.
“The last few weeks, I’ve said this before, this team has had a lot of belief and the team spirit has been good to the point where they never quit, they never game up,” Sarachan said. “Mathematically, we were still in it. The Birmingham win on the road is a tough place to get a result and everytime you win, it boosts your confidence a little bit more. We set the bar, the template of how we can win games… We played a lot of games over the course of a week, 10 days. I think, to an extent, physically, that was a big demand… I can’t fault this group. We had real belief that we could get the job done. I give Charlotte credit, they did what they had to do to keep us off the board today.”
Since both teams are already eliminated from the playoffs, NCFC’s postponed game against Memphis 901 FC will not be rescheduled.
NCFC ends the season with 19 points from 15 games and a minus-four goal differential. While the end of the season showed some promise, there is a lot of work to be done for an NCFC squad that struggled for large stretches of the season.
North Carolina FC midfielder Manny Perez approaches the ball against the Charlotte Independence on Saturday, Oct. 3 at WakeMed Soccer Park. NCFC lost 1-0.
